Elegant Egotists
by ShanMah
Summary: What happens when Seto Kaiba speaks to Mai Valentine... and discovers that she's just like him?


**Disclaimer****:** I do not own the characters, the name of the cards, etc. I didn't created Yu-Gi-Oh, but I wish I did, I'd be sooo rich!

**Rating:** M. I won't put a sex scene, but I think some sentences might be too "explicit" for a T rating. I'm just being safe!

**Explanation****: **It's a oneshot, sort of a missing moment between Seto Kaiba and Mai Valentine, before she faces Marik in the finale. Please note that some cards are treated as they are in the anime, because that's the way I use to know them.

Music: You can listen to Nickelback's "How you remind me" while reading this story. I was listening to this song when I wrote my OS and I thought it fitted!

**Language:** I am, in fact, a French speaker. So, if you see any mistake in this story, especially one that would make a sentence hard to understand, please, PLEASE, review and tell me: I'll correct the mistake as soon as possible.

**Elegant Egotists **

The beautiful Mai Valentine was walking down the corridor, going to her bedroom. She needed to sleep well this night, because the next day, she might be dueling. She had to be well rested. On her way, she saw Seto Kaiba.

- Good night, she said as they reached the same point.

She expected him to be polite enough to answer, but he continued walking and didn't say a word. She turned to look at him.

- It wouldn't hurt to be civilized and say something when someone talks to you.

He stopped moving.

- Why would I speak to you? You've got nothing that could interest me.

- It's called "courtesy", you know. Most of humans have that thing.

She heard a "humph". Kaiba started walking again.

- I said you've got nothing to interest me. I'm not after your cards. In fact, I hope I don't face you in the semi finals. That would be a total waste of my time and I'd lose a chance to take an Egyptian God Card.

- A waste of your time?

She walked fast to reach him. Putting a hand on his shoulder, she forced him to turn and look at her.

- Well I certainly hope I face you in the finals and beat you at your own tournament, Seto Kaiba. That would put some sense into your head, if that's ever possible.

- Do you truly think you can beat me in a duel? Seriously, girl…

She had a short laugh.

- Don't call me "girl". I'm sure I'm older than you.

- Yet inferior. Now if you'll excuse me, I have more important things to do than standing here and speaking with you.

- Running off scared, honey?

- Scared of what? Of a duelist in miniskirt?

He shortly looked at her and started ignoring her again as he restarted walking.

- What's the matter? she said behind his back. You think you're better than me because you wear pants?

He sighed.

- Go straight to the point, Valentine. My time, unlike yours, is precious. What do you want?

- A duel.

The young lady crossed her arms. He could feel that she was staring at his back with an insistent look.

- You think you're better than me? Fine. Prove it in a duel. Otherwise, I'm afraid I'll have to think you're just a big front.

- I could beat you with my eyes closed.

- So could I. So what do you choose? Will you face me in a duel or refuse the challenge?

He pressed few buttons on the wall, and a door opened.

- Get in.

Mai stepped inside Kaiba's room. It was even bigger and more luxurious than the other finalists' rooms.

- Not bad, she said, as she was letting herself fall on a sofa.

- Watch what you're doing. If you break anything, you'll pay.

The young woman had a smile. She took her deck in her hand.

- Are you ready to be defeated by a "duelist in miniskirt"? 'Cause I won't be nice with you, sweetheart.

- Don't you dare call me this way. I'm not your "sweetheart". I'm no one's sweetheart.

- Yeah, I get it. You're the solitary heartless guy, aren't you?

Seto said nothing as he took his deck out of his suitcase. Who did she think she was to speak to him this way?

- You know nothing about me.

- That's was _you_ think.

She was shuffling her deck when he sat in the armchair in front of her couch. Did this guy honestly think he was the only person on Earth that acted like a tough guy just to hide his loneliness?

- That's what I _know_. I never talk about my life to inferior people.

- You never talk about your life? It's weird for such a self-centred person.

- Enough with your speech, just take your cards.

They put their decks on the coffee table between them. They both picked five cards.

- Since I'm still a nice guy, I'll let you start.

- Such a _sweetheart_.

She smiled as she looked at her hand.

- First, I'll play Cyber Harpie in attack mode, then I'll boost her a bit with the Rose Whip, giving her 2000 attack points. That's all.

- I'll place a monster in defense and two cards face down. Your turn.

Mai smirked.

- That's all you've got? I guess you aren't that much of a tough guy… I place a card face down. Then I'll attack your face down monster with my Cyber Harpie!

- Not so fast. I activate my Ring of Destruction! It destroys your harpie and inflicts 2000 damage to your life points.

- And does the same thing to yours.

- Not quite.

He flipped his other card.

- My Ring of Defense will protect my points.

Mai sent her Cyber Harpie and the Rose Whip to her Graveyard. But she still had that face down card to protect her…

- Then I guess my turn is over, Kaiba.

- There's not much you can do, is it?

He smiled when he picked his next card.

- Time to activate my Cost Down magic card! First, I have to discard one card. Therefore, I can summon my Blue-Eyes White Dragon by the use of a single sacrifice. So goodbye, face down monster and hello Blue-Eyes!

- I hope you don't expect me to be surprised by that move.

- Surprised, no. Destroyed, that's for sure! My Blue-Eyes takes away all the rest of your life points.

- No, it does not.

She flipped her trap card.

- Mirror Wall?

- You bet, baby. Your monster does hurt my life points, but only by 1500, since his attack points got cut in half.

He said nothing except a light "humph".

- You think you'll win with 500 life points left while I haven't lost any of mine yet?

- Yes I am. Because now, it's my move!

She put a card on the table.

- I put a card face down. Then, I play Harpie Lady, in attack mode. But one of those beautiful ladies is never enough, don't you agree? So I activate the magic card Elegant Egotist, allowing me to have three harpies instead of one. Then, I'll give the Cyber Shield to one of my Harpie Lady, raising her attack points to 1800! She is strong enough to destroy your Blue-Eyes White Dragon and my two others harpies will cause some damage to your precious life points. You have 1100 left, all that in one turn.

- And it's your last one.

- Are you so hurried to make me leave your bedroom? You're sure not a common man, Seto Kaiba.

It took him long seconds to understand what she meant. Did she honestly think that by having this… miniskirt and this… cleavage… she was worth wasting his precious time? Still, he had to admit that she was a very good-looking young woman: she had long and soft hair, beautiful eyes, and a body that was more than acceptable. But Kaiba wasn't the kind of man to think about women this way. He didn't have _time_ to lose with them and promised himself that in the next tournament he would create, miniskirts would be prohibited. It caused too much lack of concentration for male duelists. "Like now" he said to himself.

Mai raised an eyebrow while Kaiba was lost in his thoughts.

- What's the matter, honey? Have I touched a sensitive string?

- A-absolutely not. Everything you can say is total nonsense, I barely listen to you. I was thinking of my next move to wipe away all your pathetic life points.

- Is that so? Well do it. I'm waiting. I wonder how you're gonna make it, though. Any of your monsters attacking me will automatically lose half of his attack points.

"She's right" said a voice in his head. How could he have let such a low-rank duelist set such a trap, right before his very eyes?

- I place a monster in defense and end my turn.

- No, I'm afraid you don't.

She flipped her trap card.

- The Shadow of Eyes forces your monster to switch to attack mode. Let's take a look at your card…

- It's my Vorse Raider.

- Is that so? Well my Shadow of Eyes will lure him into battle, forcing him to attack one of my harpie… and losing half of his attack points. So I'm afraid going defensive won't work with me either.

- Then I'll play a card face down.

- And it's my move… I summon Amazoness Chain Master in attack mode! But don't worry, she won't attack you. I've got better plans for her. I activate my Magic Card, Grave Arm. Then again, don't worry; I won't use it against you. I use it to send my Amazoness to the Graveyard, activating her special ability. Show me your hand so I can pick a card!

- What?

- You heard me very clearly. When sent to the Graveyard, she gives me one card in your hand. So show me that hand.

She looked at the cards he was showing. Mai smiled.

- I guess I'll choose your Blue-Eyes White Dragon.

- Very well.

He handed over his precious dragon.

- Too bad I can't summon him yet. My Harpie Ladies will attack you again!

- No, they won't.

Seto flipped his trap card.

- With Negate Attack, I'm afraid your harpies will have to take their claws off my monster and off my life points for this turn.

- Your move then. But I think there's not much you can do now.

- Think again. I activate Monster Reborn, to bring back your Cyber Harpie from the Graveyard, in defense mode. Since she's a female monster, she is not affected by Shadow of Eyes. I put three cards face down and end my turn.

- Ok, so I guess I'll activate Monster Reborn two, bringing your Battle Ox, the first monster you send to the Graveyard, back to the field. Then, I'll sacrifice him, along with a Harpie Lady, to summon your Blue-Eyes. First, my Harpie Lady will destroy your Cyber Harpie.

- Yes, but it also allows me to activate my trap, the Wish of Final Effort, adding her 1800 attack points to my life points. I now have 2900 life points.

- It's still not enough to save you from your own Blue-Eyes' attack. You're 100 life points short. Too bad.

- I'm not done yet, stupid little girl. My other card will save me. The Gift of the Mystical Elf! It gives me 300 life points per monster on the field. And I count four, giving me 1200 more life points, for a total of 4100, so I can survive the attack, with 2050 life points left.

- You saved yourself, but you still have the problem that you can't attack me.

Kaiba picked a card.

- Not for long. I activate my last face down card, Heavy Storm, destroying all of the trap cards and magic cards on the field. I have none left, but your Cyber Shield, Shadow of Eyes and Mirror Wall are going straight to the Graveyard! Thus, your Harpie Lady is weaker and moreover, your traps combo is destroyed.

- I'm afraid I'll take more than that to scare me. I still have your Blue-Eyes, while you have no monster left to protect you.

- I can see that. Therefore, I summon a monster in defense, and lay one card face down.

- That's your move? Very well. I place a card face down. And since I don't trust your face down card, I won't attack.

- You'll regret this!

He flipped his monster.

- I switch the Lord of D. in attack mode. Then, I activate the magic card Flute of Summoning Dragon, allowing me to summon my third Blue-Eyes White Dragon from my hand!

- Hold on. Your flute works on both sides of the field. So I'm allowed to summon a dragon too, if I have one in my hand! I choose my Harpie's Pet Dragon, in defense mode. Thanks to my Harpie Ladies, he gains 600 attack and defense points, raising his defense at 3100 life points. More than your dragon's attack points.

- That still won't save your Harpie Lady from the attack of my Blue-Eyes! She's history, and so are your life points!

- No one's history. Except maybe you, honey.

She flipped her face down card.

- What's that?

- Don't you know? It's my Harpie Lady Sparrow Formation. Since I have two Harpie Ladies on the field, I can activate this trap to stop your battle phase, and negate the attack you just called.

"Damn it!" he thought as she smirked.

- My turn. I guess I'll just finish you off by destroying your Lord of D. with my Blue-Eyes! This duel's over… and you lost.

She took back her cards to put them in her deck holder as he was staring at the table. Losing to Yugi could be accepted. But losing to Mai Valentine was totally unacceptable.

- You're lucky. It's not an official match, so you lose none of your cards.

- You're the one that is lucky that I ever accepted your challenge! You totally wasted my time, so get OUT of my room!

She raised an eyebrow and stared at him.

- What are you looking at?

She was now standing, her arms crossed. He looked at her with angry eyes.

- I'm looking at you, Seto Kaiba. And I do wonder what's wrong with you. You're always in bad mood.

- I just LOST a duel! Do you expect me to be jumping on my couch?

- You never smile, you never laugh, and I bet you never cry. Tell me your secret. Are you a robot?

- What's the point of your speech? Do I look like I wanna talk with you?

He got on his feet and faced her. Kaiba was taller than Mai, yet he felt insecure. For the very first time of his life, he felt that someone could actually read his mind and feelings. But how could she possibly know anything about him?

- Did anyone ever tell you that you're not a bad person?

- What kind of question is that!

- Answer me, Seto Kaiba.

She moved forward. He thought she was _way_ too close.

- Did… anyone… in your entire life… look at you to tell that you weren't a bad person?

- I don't need anybody to tell me anything like that. I'm well aware of my own value.

- Really?

- Listen, Valentine.

He seemed very upset.

- I had to work hard to get everything that belongs to me today. I didn't need anybody and I'll never need anyone. I don't care about being "good" or "bad". I act and live for myself.

- Mmmhhh. If it was true, I'd have to feel sorry for your little brother.

She came ever closer to him, and looked him right into the eyes.

- Quit that badass attitude of yours, Kaiba. Because I'm not buying the story. I know you're just hiding behind it to protect yourself.

- Whatever you think you know about me, you're badly mistaken.

He turned away and went to the window.

- I don't think I am. I was just like you before.

- Then again, I'll say it: you know nothing about me.

- You're wrong. Let me give it a guess.

He heard that she was walking in the room while she continued:

- Your parents didn't care about you. Because of that, you believe that no one can actually care about you, and therefore, you convinced yourself that you needed nobody else than yourself. You act like you're so tough, so strong… but in fact, deep inside, you're still this little lonely boy who never truly had a childhood and friends to have fun with. And even though it hurts, you don't want the others to figure you out.

The young man felt that she was now very close. He could even smell her perfume, a delicious and surely very expensive one.

- But I can figure you out very easily. Before I met Joey and the others, I was just like you. I acted like I thought I was the greatest thing in the world since God himself, but in fact, I was just feeling like a piece of crap, who wasn't worth anyone's friendship.

- N-nonsense.

- Truly? Why do you think I won this duel?

- You won out of luck.

- No, I won because you duel like you live. Trying to act like you're super strong, when it's all fake. I figured you out. Tell me that I'm wrong.

- You are wrong.

- Now look at me right in the eyes. And say it.

He sighed, but didn't move. He didn't want her to see the effects of her words. How could she know all those things? How could Mai Valentine, who was actually speaking to him for the first time, know so much about his life and the way he truly felt?

- I'm waiting.

- Shut up and leave me alone!

- But you _are_ alone.

She forced him to look at her, but his eyes escaped. After all she'd been through to face herself and her loneliness, she couldn't stand someone making the same mistakes that she did.

- Now why don't you try being with someone for once?

- Why don't you try minding your own business?

Mai looked at him more closely. And when she saw his eyes, she couldn't believe it.

- So you _do_ cry after all.

Seto pushed the young woman on the window, his hands on her shoulders.

- Stop messing up with my head!

He wanted her to get out of his bedroom, out of his LIFE! She was forcing him to think about things than he'd wanted to hide and forget for years. She had already seen the tears in his eyes, and he didn't want her to see anything else.

- Why do you even care, Valentine? What's your problem?

- I told you. Same as yours. I find it hard to trust others people.

- I don't find anyb…

- I don't, I don't, I don't! I get it. Start telling the truth.

- I've never seen such a stubborn woman.

- That's because I understand.

He couldn't answer back. Mai stared at him. Then, he realized how close he made them by pushing her on the window. At the beginning, he was thinking "arrogant" "low-rank duelist" and "annoying" when he looked at her. Now, he had to admit that the word "sexy" also applied. She was surely many men's fantasy.

While staring at him, she thought exactly the same. Of course, he was a bit younger than her, but he sure was a handsome young man. Especially right now, as his eyes started telling something else than "Out of my imperial way, servant". Their bodies were almost touching, and she had to admit that it was quite pleasant. She had a small smile.

- You're starting to like it… or am I wrong again?

Seto didn't answer back. She let her fingers touch his torso.

- Maybe I could show you a thing or two…

He moved back when she touched him.

- Put your hand away from me!

- No one's allowed to touch you in any way, is that it, sweetheart?

- Well certainly not _you_.

- I bet no one ever had that right.

- Even if that was true, it wouldn't concern you.

- Well, prove me wrong.

His next move was the most unpredictable move Seto Kaiba had ever made: he grabbed her waist, brought her dangerously close to him… and kissed her. Her lips tasted just like a delicious cherry, her skin was as soft as silk under his hands, her blond hair was tickling his neck. At the beginning, he was just trying to force her to shut up by "proving her wrong". But now… he was actually discovering something new, that he never planned to discover.

Something wonderful.

Kaiba truly expected Mai to push him away. But instead, she brought her body even closer to his, and kissed him back. Her warm fingers were lightly massaging the back of his neck, as he could feel her tongue playing with his. His hands left her hips to caress her silky hair when he felt her warm lips kissing his neck. He'd never imagined it could feel so good. The young woman's hands slipped under his shirt, touching directly his torso's skin. He never expected her to kiss him back in the first place, and now she was starting to drive him crazy simply by touching and kissing him. She kissed him again on the lips, with more passion than before. How far did she _exactly_ want to go?

- I've never… he started.

Mai interrupted him with a finger on his lips and a soft "Doesn't matter" whispered in his ear. Then, she fell on the bed with him, and another murmur reached Kaiba's ear: "I'll make sure you never forget about me". He had a very small smile as he untied her deck holder and threw it on the bedside table.

- I guess you won't need this for the rest of the night, then…

Seto would sure remember every details of the next hours for the rest of his life. Should he ever lose his memory, he was sure that he'd still remember Mai's skin, her perfume and the sensuality of this first and single night they spent together.

The next morning, Mai was alone in the bed when she woke up. The duelist saw a piece of paper on the bedside table, with her deck. The note had obviously been written very quickly by Kaiba's hand.

"_Make sure you leave the room without being seen. If you ever dare to reveal what happened to anybody, you shall regret this for your entire life_."

She sadly and slowly shook her head, even if she had to admit that she didn't expect less from him…


End file.
